Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. announced today that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nichia Corporation in the Osaka District Court seeking injunction against Nichia Corporation's manufacturing, use, sale and offering for sale of the gallium nitride-based Blue LED.

The patent, Japanese Patent No. 3209096, entitled "A Light-Emitting Semiconductor Device Using Group III Nitride Compound ", relates to a basic composition of a LED device allowing the reliable semiconductor device with improved luminous intensity, device characteristics, and reliability.

Toyoda Gosei alleges in its complaint that Nichia Corporation is infringing the 3209096 patent by manufacturing, sale and offering for sale of the gallium nitride-based Blue LED in Japan.

Toyoda Gosei has been developing Blue LED as a pioneering enterprise ahead of Nichia Corporation, and is one of the largest Blue LED manufacturers in the world. Toyoda Gosei has been litigating against Nichia Corporation with respect to a number of patents and utility model rights, and will continue to enforce its intellectual property rights.